You have taken an excellent first step by training your dog using a lure and reward
/ clicker training system, so that he does not have to be on leash to respond to your voice or signal. Do make sure that your dog continues to get plenty of accurate off-leash work in the house, fenced yard, etcetera. Also, remember that once your dog has learned a command, you need to "proof" the command, by working the dog around increasing distraction and continuing to give clear feedback. He must "win" more by coming than he would lose.As we talk about in class, you may need to take your dog off leash gradually, by working from a dragging long-line to a dragging leash to a short tether or "handle". Some dogs also respond well to being double-leashed, then the owner can make a production of removing one leash, while keeping the other light leash on the dog for control if necessary. A very light strong leash works well for this. You may want to make one by attaching fishing line to a snap at one end, and to a dowel at the other (so you can hold on without cutting your hand). This kind of line is called a "shark-line" for some mysterious reason. Make safe choices about where and when to start to practice off-leash. Fenced parks, friend's fenced yards (safe but distracting), tennis courts, or areas remote from roads may all make good practice areas. Also remember that although we are practicing off-leash for reliability and safety, there are very few places where it is legal to have your dog off-leash, and your dog is certainly safer leashed. The best protection for your dog is to be well-trained and well leashed. Loose Leash Walking- make a gradual transition to off-leash. Generally, you are not ready to start this until your dog walks well on leash. Be honest with yourself and your dog and put in more work if you need it. When your dog is a good LLW-er, you can use the "lure-hand-swinging" technique that we worked on in class, coupled, if appropriate, with a dragging line or double leashing (see above).
Starting off in the house (for maximum control of the setting and maximum success) we are going to teach the dog that the best way to earn any good stuff he see in the environment is to respond to his trainer's cue.
The set up is this:
Arrange some yummy food so the dog can see and smell it, but not get it. (I put hot dogs on a plate and cover the plate with a colander which I tape down.) Put the temptation on one side of the room, and standing on the other side, call the dog. Remember, you can only call the dog once! Your dog may come immediately, he may only turn his head towards you, or, he may initially ignore you. If he comes, click/treat and run in with the dog to get a hot dog. If he turns his head, praise enthusiastically. If he ignores you, wait-- he needs you and your opposable thumbs to earn his prize. He will come eventually. Once the dog is coming promptly, every time, practice in an new location, (another room) then another new location (back yard).
Repeat this exercise with a new temptation. How about a squeaky toy, tied to a string and hung over the door, so the dog can see it, but not grab it? Be creative. If your dog wants it, and needs you to get it for him (and both of you are safe...) use it as a training exercise!
The final version of this exercise involves one Handler/Trainer and one Distracter, and, of course, the dog! The Handler/Trainer has no good stuff. He calls the dog "Buddy, Come!". The Distracter has all the good stuff (squeaky toy, Frisbee, snackies, etc.) and makes the good stuff evident. Naturally, the dog will initially hang out and "mooch" from the Distracter. Nothing the dog does will make the Distracter give him anything, though, until the dog eventually, slowly, gives up and heads for the Handler/Trainer who has called him. (It may help to do this exercise in a location in which the dog has previously had many successful repetitions of the Come with his handler.) As soon as the dog reaches the Handler/Trainer the trainer clicks to identify the dog's success, then the Distracter rushes over to hand out any good thing the dog desires. Repeat this exercise many times, in different locations and (if you want your dog to be responsive to the Come command from more than one person) with different people playing the Distracter and Handler/Trainer roles.
It is
especially helpful in this exercise to use an "Event Marker" - a stimulus, usually a sound, that the dog has been conditioned to recognize as marking good behavior and promising a reward. The use of such a marker allows you to train more accurately, especially in exercises like this, where the timing is "fiddly". A clicker is an ideal marker (in large part because of its novelty, reproducibility and brevity-it allows you to "capture" a tiny window of desired behavior, reward it, and "grow" it) but you can, if you wish, condition a verbal marker, instead. To condition the dog's response to the Event Marker, 'click' then deliver a treat, in several different settings, at different times, until you have completed perhaps 50 pairings. You will start to see the dog alert to the click, and he may wag his tail or show other signs of eagerness. If you will use a verbal marker, choose a short word that you say rarely, and pair it with the treat, as described above.